Contents

Background

In the years between the First and Second World War, many nations developed early self-propelled artillery weapons. This was usually done by simply mounting a howitzer on a modified tank chassis (often making use of obsolete tanks for this purpose), but some designs also had purpose-built chassis. By the time war began, most Allied nations had fielded some form of self-propelled artillery, and many more were produced during the war. The most common configuration was a 155mm howitzer mounted on a lightly armoured tracked chassis, firing ballistic HE rounds. Allied commanders generally used it to bombard enemy bases and fortifications, but it was also highly effective as a long-range antipersonnel weapon. Although effective against Soviet defenses, Tesla coils had even greater range than artillery pieces, and enough power to melt them to scrap in one blast.

In-game Unit

Artillery is a highly effective and long range way to deal with infantry and soften up enemy formations. Because of its lack of proper armour, slow speed, and very slow turn rate, it is very vulnerable to enemy fire, particularly by tanks. It is also outranged by Tesla coils. It thus performs best when it is guarded by more expendable or tougher units, such as tanks or infantry.

Compared to the V-2 rocket systems used by the Soviets, Artillery are slightly cheaper, fire much more rapidly, have shorter range, and deal less damage per shot.

Trivia

Both the Allied Artillery and its Nod counterpart were (very loosely) modeled after the M110 Howitzer. Other possible vehicles to fill the artillery role during Red Alert's time period include the French Mk F3 which had a 155mm cannon, and the German Hummel which had a 150mm cannon.